Core77's Design Directory

After more than a century in the footwear design business, New Balance has a history of creating some of the most iconic shoes in the world of sport and fashion. From the timeless 990 running shoe, to the fashionable New Balance 574, the Massachusetts-headquartered company has consistently earned its stripes

Faris discusses designing to change pre-existing behavior, working at Nike's s23NYC digital innovation studio and more

Ron Faris got his start developing brand experiences working for Virgin Media to produce the well-known Virgin Mobile music festival. Inspired by the energy of people waiting in line at the festivals he produced, Faris developed Virgin Mega, a mobile platform to engage communities while they wait in line to

A look at how social media can successfully propel millennial careers

In many cases, the millennial generation has been forced to grow up way too fast, thanks to the ever-evolving social media phenomenon. What used to be back and forth AIM messages at 2AM while your parents were sleeping has quickly morphed into full-fledged profiles aiming to show the world detailed

Imagine walking across sharp rocks while barefoot

Whether you're a footwear designer or just interested in how the human body works, you should watch this. First, a preamble: I've been training in internal martial arts for years and teach qi gong to private clients on the side. Both of these things have taught me that that most

Is Fashion Modern?, a new exhibit organized by design curators Paola Antonelli and Michelle Fisher at MoMA, is as much a celebration of fashion and design as it is an extensive history lesson. Leaving no rock unturned, the curators take a look at many of the everyday fashion items that

The company's most exciting material development since Flyknit

Nike's Flyknit has become synonymous with the brand, now used in everything from sneakers to sports bras. The knit material is more sustainable than many materials used in footwear and fashion, mainly due to its minimal waste production. But since Flyknit's conception in 2012, Nike has been more focused on

Plus some cool process clips

Performance sneakers made from wool sound too warm and itchy to be true, so we were intrigued when Allbirds took to Kickstarter to pitch their Wool Runners to the world back in 2014—and reached their maximum target in just five days. When you think about this classic example of an

The show is called "Lace Up", so I don't get creativity points for that

Tomorrow, September 13th, 2017: Pop your popcorn and prepare for Pensole founder D'Wayne Edwards and America's Next Top Model producer Ken Mok's ultimate sneaker design showdown, Lace Up. Get ready to yell critiques at your TV and try to out-sketch 12 sneaker designers from around the world as they compete

Berlin-based artist Hans Hemmert (famous for his work with balloons) threw a party where guests wore shoe-extenders to make them all the same height of 2 meters. Aside from bringing the partygoers all to a common eye level (and eliminating the awkward postures of party talk between the tall and the short), the gathering is lent an infographic nature by the shoes: all made from blue foam, the person's real height is read in the visual uniformity of the sole instead of at the head—like a walking b

We're guessing they did the patterns CAD-free

When designing performance footwear, sneaker companies like Nike and Adidas will always starts with the shape of the human foot. A keen understanding of its structure then leads its designers to add support and cushioning in the appropriate places. But when designing footwear less demanding in its needs—say, the house slippers folks wear in Japan and other cultures where outdoor shoes are a no-go in the house—there's a lot more latitude.

Logo placement put into consumer hands

Tired of seeing the Nike swoosh in the same place, over and over? Tired of seeing logos on sneakers in general? Nike's now giving you the option to place your own or opt-out entirely with their recently released Gakou Flyknit. In all honesty, the design of the sneaker itself isn't all that revolutionary—by this point, we've all grown accustomed to sock-like shoes being worn everywhere from the gym to the office.

How do you reinvigorate a 100-year old sneaker design? You hack it and make it your own.

My friend Gary showed up at our book club wearing a pair of Chuck Taylors. Nothing unusual about that except that he's in his 70s and had no idea they were in style. He's been wearing Chucks since the 1950s—just the way they come out of the box. But

adidas's UltraBOOST goes laceless, leaving us with a few questions for footwear designers

Laceless sneakers are nothing new, especially for adidas. But besides cleats, it's tough to find a pair designed for high performance. Enter adidas's first laceless UltraBOOST sneakers, announced last week. Designed for runners, the laceless UltraBOOSTs use Primeknit technology to their fullest advantage. Due to its decrease in elasticity, the

Paul Gaudio reveals the interesting business model, but the short answer is we'll have to wait and see for ourselves

adidas just officially announced their Greenpoint, Brooklyn Creator Farm, an open source hub for well, creativity. Boasting a start-up environment within the not-so-startup company, the adidas Creator Farm seems like a secure place to work for a small team without the major risk of going under. Our burning question

This one's for the ladies

Ask any woman—no matter what their size or shape may be—what their main challenges are during a workout. I guarantee the conversation will start with sports bras nine times out of ten. Often times, sports bras lack support, and the materials used are not as sweat-friendly as promised. This leads

Bulk and inconvenience instantly come to mind when thinking of protective athletic gear—especially when it comes to positions that require more than shin guards, like goalies. This frustration was the foundation of Storelli Sports, a Brooklyn-based athletic company co-founded by a group of four soccer players understandably fed-up with injury

A collaboration we can get behind

When Kvadrat announced their partnership with adidas for a pack of Stan Smiths, I figured they'd just be sneakers with beautiful fabric slapped on them. I was wrong. While we don't have any cool process images for you, and it doesn't appear any revolutionary techniques were used in manufacturing, we're

Steven M. Johnson's "Patent Depending" series of inventions range from social commentary to plain ol' bizarre, and they always give us a laugh. So we've contracted him to let us publish one every week.

After the release of the second Mars Yard Shoe, Sachs reflects on his experience during a tour of his studio

The original Mars Yard ShoeThe history of the Tom Sachs x Nikecraft Mars Yard Shoe is, without a doubt, one for the books. Releasing 5 years ago, the first Mars Yard Shoe took both the sneaker and design worlds by storm. Promising to deliver superior stability in rough terrains, the

At the beginning of the month, adidas unveiled their newest materials experiment, FORGEFIBER. The difference between this new manufacturing method and what we've been seeing in the industry lately is simple—no 3D printers. I know, crazy. Instead of 3D printed material, FORGEFIBER focuses on knit technology, varying densities with a

The CEO/Owner of Staple Pigeon, Staple Design & Reed Space discusses the design industry from a business perspective in this two-part interview

It's clear nobody knows better than jeffstaple what it means to be a designer and businessman at the same damn time. So, I was curious to speak with him about what that exactly means, in terms of managing responsibilities, transitioning between roles, rebranding and designing for a niche-turned-mass market. Let's get right down to it, because there's a lot to cover.

The CEO/Owner of Staple Pigeon, Staple Design & Reed Space discusses the design industry from a business perspective in this two-part interview

Through seamlessly blending business and design, Jeff Ng, also known as jeffstaple, turned his graphic design passion into the three-part visual communication agency, Staple Design. Including the agency itself, the t-shirt printing stint turned successful menswear collection, Staple Pigeon and the beloved Lower East Side retail store, Reed Space (whose

It works like a parachute in reverse

For their new "all-conditions" sneaker, the ACG.07.KMTR, Nike developed a totally new entry-exit system that we're very curious to try out. Rather than laces and eyelets, the kick features a draw cord, a strap and a magnetic buckle. Here's what opening and closing the bag-like upper looks like: "We trialed

Midsoles creepily emerge from a bath of liquid thanks to light and oxygen

Late last night, adidas unveiled their game-changing version of digitally fabricated shoes in partnership with tech company, Carbon. The Futurecraft 4D running shoes combine Carbon's Digital Light Synthesis manufacturing process with footwear design knowledge from adidas' Futurecraft team. The result? A sleek sneaker that's way more complicated than it appears:

Made from corn but not corny

The Reebok Future team recently announced their Cotton + Corn sustainable products initiative, which will include a pair of sneakers made from organic cotton and inedible corn waste. The Cotton + Corn shoes feature an upper made from organic cotton and a sole made from inedible corn waste. This cute

The Air Max 1 turned 30 and had the best birthday party I've ever been to (sorry, friends)

March 26, 1987 brought us one of the most infamous sneakers in history—the Air Max 1. While Air Max technology was originally introduced eight years earlier in the Tailwind, the Air Max 1 was the first time the air technology was made at a larger scale and visible from the

It looks only slightly less complicated than building a missile

It's not often that I feel guilty after watching a manufacturing video, but this one did it to me. I go through a pair of sneakers in under a year, and after seeing the absurd amount of labor, processes, machines, energy and materials that go into each, I can't

Unfortunately, this is not fake news

The latest in sneaker innovation comes from a strange source—to say the least. Pizza Hut recently merged sneaker and food culture with the unveiling of their limited edition 'Pie Top' kicks: A 64 pair run of the Pie Tops were designed in honor of the pizza company's first year as

This job opportunity might just be a perfect fit

We are seeking an experienced footwear designer to design footwear that meets trends and leverages brand DNA of Style, Performance and Green for the Sport Leisure category. This Senior Designer must bring the seasonal creative direction to life into the product briefs including functional, cost and aesthetic objectives.

"Abstract: The Art of Design" gets a tour of the industry from Nike's Tinker Hatfield

Netflix has released all eight episodes of "Abstract: The Art of Design," which goes behind the scenes of a variety of creative fields. Since industrial design is an impossibly broad category, we're treated with not one but two episodes of narrower ID focus: Footwear and automotive. We'll start our reviews

Take note of these simple tips and tricks from the Coroflot community

When looking for footwear sketching inspiration, look no further than Coroflot's rich database of design portfolios. From material exploration ideas to problem solving design hacks, here are some hand-drawn gems that will have you inspired to take to the drawing board to design your own pair of fresh kicks.

In this episode of Yo! C77 Sketch, learn how to focus on overall shape, plus a trick to understanding how shoes are put together

I see a lot of bad shoe sketches out there, so I thought I'd work up a basic demo. The first step is understanding the particular proportions to different common silhouettes. A hiking boot's shape is very different from a kitten heel. A basketball shoe is very different from an

Knots not required

Inventor David Knez has devised a simple way to loosen and tighten your shoes using only one hand. This is a very clever use of materials: In addition to being convenient for the able-bodied, Knez's QuickShoeLace should be a boon for single amputees or those born with only